1969 in American television

none 1969 This is a list of American television-related events in 1969. Events Date Event Ref. January 4 The Huntley–Brinkley Report, NBC's nightly newscast, expands to include a weekend edition that would air on Saturdays, with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley alternating weeks anchoring the news solo. Later, mediocre ratings prompt NBC to replace the duo with other newsmen, with the broadcast's Saturday editions renamed the NBC Saturday News. January 13 Dick York collapses on the set of Bewitched and is rushed to the hospital. He resigns from the show for health reasons. The character Darrin Stephens is played by Dick Sargent from then until the show's 1972 ending. February 5 ABC runs the one and only airing of the notorious flop Turn-On, which was canceled after only one episode. February 19 Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. shoots its final scene and completes its run at approximately 4:31 p.m. at the CBS Studio Center. The final scene wrapped up with Jim Nabors saying the line “How interesting - and did she?”. June 3 The science fiction television series Star Trek airs its final new episode after being canceled by NBC. Its subsequent sale into rerun syndication soon after leads to a rise in popularity that transforms Star Trek into one of the century's most successful entertainment franchises, which would later spawn sequel series for the next few decades. 2009 TIME 1969: Woodstock, the Moon and Manson: The Turbulent End of the ‘60s New York Time Inc. Home Entertainment 107 July 20 All three commercial television networks broadcast a live transmission from the Moon, which was viewed by 720 million people around the world, with the landing of Apollo 11; at 10:56 p.m. EDT Neil Armstrong (followed soon afterwards by Buzz Aldrin) steps onto the surface; viewers see a scan from broadcasts received at Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station followed by Parkes Observatory in Australia. 30th anniversary of Apollo 11: 1969-1999 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo_11_30th.html Apollo 11 30th Anniversary 2019-07-20 September 8 Starting September 8, all daytime programming on both ABC and CBS is presented in color. September 26 ABC affiliate WLTV in Bowling Green, Kentucky was knocked off the air due to the sabotaging explosion of their transmitter by a local bootlegger who did not appreciate the television exposure of his bootlegging ring. The station returned to the air with limited power on October 6. It would not return to full power until the station's new transmitter facility was activated in 1971. Rash, A. V. (September 26, 1969). “WLTV Tower is Blasted By Dynamite.” The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky, p. 1, 18. Archived from the original April 4, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.Ryan, Ed (September 27, 1969). “Bowling Green Station’s TV Tower is Dynamited.” The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. B1. Archived from the original April 4, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022 - via Newspapers.com. October 18 The Jackson 5 make their national television debut on The Hollywood Palace. November 13 Vice President Spiro Agnew, in a televised speech from Des Moines, Iowa, stirs up a national controversy by attacking the network news commentaries. December 7 The now-iconic Christmas television special, Frosty the Snowman, premieres on CBS, based on the song of the same name. The special has aired annually on the same network ever since. Woolery George W. Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987 1989 Scarecrow Press 0-8108-2198-2 August 24, 2022 https://archive.org/details/animatedtvspecia0000wool/page/164/mode/2up 164–165 Television programs Debuts Date Debut Network February 7 This Is Tom Jones ABC April 10 Peanuts CBS April 27Woolery George W. Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981 1983 Scarecrow Press 0-8108-1557-5 https://archive.org/details/childrenstelevis0000wool/page/86/mode/2up 86–88 The Dudley Do-Right Show ABC June 7 The Johnny Cash Show June 15 Hee Haw CBS September 6 H.R. Pufnstuf NBC September 8 Where the Heart Is CBS September 13 The Archie Comedy Hour Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines The Perils of Penelope Pitstop Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! September 17 The Courtship of Eddie's Father ABC Room 222 September 23 Marcus Welby, M.D. September 24 Medical Center CBS September 26 The Brady Bunch ABC September 29 Bright Promise NBC Love, American Style ABC November 10 Sesame Street2009 TIME 1969: Woodstock, the Moon and Manson: The Turbulent End of the ‘60s New York Time Inc. Home Entertainment 105 NET Television films and specials First aired Title Network Reference February 9 A Midsummer Night's Dream CBS April 11 Fellini, a Director's Notebook NBC April 13 Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman CBS September 27It Was a Short Summer, Charlie BrownCBS November 12 Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert NBC December 7Frosty the SnowmanCBS December 12 The Archies' Sugar Sugar Jingle Jangle Christmas Show CBS Changes of network affiliation Show Moved from Moved toGet Smart NBC CBSThe Ghost & Mrs. Muir ABC Ending this year Date Show Network Debut Status Notes January 4 Fantastic Voyage ABC September 14, 1968 Ended January 4 The Adventures of Gulliver ABC September 14, 1968 Ended January 4 The Archie Show ABC September 14, 1968 Ended January 4 Wacky Races (returned in 2017) CBS September 14, 1968 Canceled Returned in 2017 on Boomerang’s video-on-demand service January 9 Blondie CBS September 26, 1968 EndedJanuary 11Danger Island NBC September 7, 1968 Ended January 15 Daktari CBS January 11, 1966 Ended January 30 Journey to the Unknown ABC September 26, 1968 Ended January 30 The Ugliest Girl in Town ABC September 26, 1968 Ended January 31 The Felony Squad ABC September 12, 1966 Ended February 23 The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ABC September 15, 1968 Ended March 25 N.Y.P.D ABC 1967 Ended April 1 That's Life ABC September 24, 1968 Ended April 13 The Mothers-in-Law NBC September 10, 1967 Ended April 16 The Outsider ABC September 18, 1968 Ended May 2 Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. CBS September 25, 1964 Ended May 5 The Outcasts ABC September 23, 1968 Ended May 19 The Big Valley ABC September 15, 1965 Ended May 27 The Jerry Lewis Show NBC September 12, 1967 Ended June 2 Peyton Place ABC September 15, 1964 Ended June 3 Star Trek: The Original Series NBC September 8, 1966 Ended June 8 The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour CBS February 5, 1967 Canceled June 8 Peanuts CBS 1969 Canceled Returned in 1973 August 31 The King Kong Show ABC September 10, 1966 Ended September 6 The Lone Ranger CBS September 10, 1966 Ended September 6 Journey to the Center of the Earth ABC September 9, 1967 Ended September 16 The Guns of Will Sonnett ABC September 8, 1967 Ended September 26 Eye Guess NBC January 3, 1966 Ended September 26 Match Game NBC December 31, 1962 Ended Returned in 1973 on CBS September 26 You Don't Say NBC April 1, 1963 Ended Returned in 1975 on ABC December 26 The Joey Bishop Show ABC April 17, 1967 Ended December 27 H.R. Pufnstuf NBC January 6, 1968 Ended Networks and services Network launches Network Type Launch date Notes Source West Virginia Public Broadcasting Regional over-the-air state network July 14 Faith Broadcasting Network Religious television network October 1 Operated on a limited number of station in California Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting Regional over-the-air state network October 5 UA-Columbia MSG Cable October 15 New York City-area-based cable channel. Catholic Faith Network Regional religious cable television network Unknown date Possibly the earliest-known religious-formatted cable channel Television stations Sign-ons Date City of license/Market Station Channel Affiliation Notes/Ref. January 13 Pikeville, Kentucky WKPI-TV 22 NET Part of the Kentucky Educational Television network as a satellite of WKLE/Lexington, Kentucky. January 14 Garden City, New York (New York City) WLIW 21 January 25 Monterey, California KMST 46 CBS February 8 Fayetteville, Arkansas KGTO-TV 36 NBC February 23 Morgantown, West Virginia WNPB 24 NET Later became part of the West Virginia Public Broadcasting television network March 3 Bloomington, Indiana WTIU 30 NET April 14 Eureka, California KEET 13 NET June 8 St. Louis, Missouri KDNL-TV 30 Independent now an ABC affiliate July 14 Huntington, West Virginia WVPB-TV 33 NET Part of the West Virginia Public Broadcasting television network July 30 Nacogdoches, Texas KAEC-TV 19 CBS August 18 Jacksonville, Illinois (Quincy, Illinois/Hannibal, Missouri) WJJY-TV 14 ABC August 20 Kingsport, Tennessee (Johnson City/Bristol, TN-VA) WKPT-TV 19 ABC August 29 Miles City/Billings, Montana KYUS-TV 3 Independent September 8 Covington, Kentucky (Cincinnati, Ohio) WCVN-TV 52 NET Part of Kentucky Educational Television (KET) as a satellite of WKLE/Lexington October Manchester, New Hampshire WXPO-TV 50 Independent October 1 Victoria, Texas KXIX 19 ABC Signed on as a satellite of KIII/Corpus Christi October 5 Baltimore, Maryland WMPB 67 NET Flagship of Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting October 7 Marquette, Michigan WJMN-TV 3 NBC October 16 San Bernardino/Los Angeles, California KHOF-TV 30 Independent Originally licensed in Glendale, California October 20 Hazard, Kentucky WKYH-TV 57 Independent Nash Francis M. 1995 Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and TV in the Bluegrass State 9781879688933 October 25 Williston, North Dakota KXMD-TV 11 CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) October 26 Anniston, Alabama WHMA-TV 40 CBS (primary) NBC (secondary) October 29 Kansas City, Missouri KCIT-TV 50 Independent November 19 Elmira, New York WENY-TV 36 ABC Network affiliation changes Date City of license/Market Station Channel Old affiliation New affiliation Notes/Ref. January Jamestown-Buffalo, New York WNYP-TV 26 CTV (Canada) Independent January 1 Billings, Montana KULR-TV 8 NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) ABC (exclusive) Would re-join NBC in 1987 Lubbock, Texas KCBD 11 NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) NBC (exclusive) KDUB-TV 13 CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) CBS (exclusive) KSEL-TV 28 Independent ABC January 6Margareet Gentry Educational TV Network Begins Night Programming Park City Daily News Bowling Green, Kentucky January 7, 1969 2 https://books.google.com/books?id=WtIdAAAAIBAJ&dq=kentucky+etv+network&pg=PA2&article_id=5438,767833 Google Books July 9, 2023 Ashland, Kentucky WKAS 25 Educational independent NET Part of the Kentucky Educational Television network Bowling Green, Kentucky WKGB-TV 53 Elizabethtown, Kentucky WKZT-TV 23 Hazard, Kentucky WKHA 35 Lexington, Kentucky WKLE 46 Madisonville, Kentucky WKMA-TV 35 Morehead, Kentucky WKMR 38 Murray, Kentucky WKMU 21 Owenton, Kentucky WKON 52 Somerset, Kentucky WKSO-TV 29 May 12 Sioux Falls, South Dakota KORN-TV 46 NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) ABC (exclusive) NBC would return to the station (as KDLT) in 1983 August 18 Hannibal, Missouri (Quincy, Illinois) KHQA-TV 7 CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) CBS (exclusive) The secondary ABC affiliation ended with the sign-on of WJJY-TV in nearby Jacksonville, Illinois. August 20 Bristol, Virginia (Bristol-Kingsport-Johnson City, Tennessee) WCYB-TV 5 NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) NBC (exclusive) The secondary ABC affiliation ended with the sign-on of WKPT-TV/Kingsport. Johnson City, Tennessee (Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA) WJHL-TV 11 CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) CBS (exclusive) October 9 Marquette, Michigan WLUC-TV CBS (primary) ABC and NBC (secondary) CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) Secondary NBC affiliation was dropped with the sign-on of WJMN-TV; WLUC would trade network affiliations with WJMN to become an exclusive NBC affiliate in 1992 October 25 Williston, North Dakota KUMV-TV 8 NBC (primary) ABC and CBS (secondary) NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) Unknown date Great Falls, Montana KFBB-TV 5 ABC (primary) CBS (secondary) ABC (primary) NBC (secondary) KRTV 3 NBC CBS Lubbock, Texas KSEL-TV 28 Independent ABC Santa Barbara, California KEYT-TV 3 ABC (primary) CBS (exclusive) ABC (exclusive) Changed occurred on the occasion of the consolidation of the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo markets. Santa Maria, California KCOY-TV 12 NBC (primary) CBS (secondary) CBS (exclusive) San Luis Obispo, California KSBY 6 NBC (primary) CBS (secondary) NBC (exclusive) Station closures Date City of license/Market Station Channel Affiliation Sign-on date Notes May Worcester, Massachusetts WJZB-TV 14 Independent (primary) NBC (secondary) December 4, 1953 (as WWOR-TV) August 31 Corpus Christi, Texas KVDO-TV 22 Independent 1968 Galveston/Houston, Texas KVVV-TV 16 Independent February 1968 September 13 Ventura/Los Angeles, California KKOG-TV 16 December 14, 1968 Unknown date Jamestown-Buffalo, New York WNYP-TV 26 Independent 1966 Returned to the air in 1988 as WTJA Marion, Indiana WTAF-TV 31 November 3, 1962 Births 1969 in television#Births Deaths 1969 in television#Deaths See also 1969 in television 1969 in film 1969 in the United States List of American films of 1969 References External links List of 1969 American television series at IMDb October 2022 1969 *